It seems the 1.5.x beta -serie of the Arduino IDE is gaining more and more distance from the stable 1.0.x -serie, and 1.5 supports several whole new Arduino products even. I wonder what kind of talks there have been to have the stable serie catch up with the developments?

Well, 1.0.x is called stable, and 1.5.x is called beta, so the status of a recommended stable release that 1.0.x has on it's side. I cannot evaluate the program if this really is the case, but it is a significant thing. I wouldn't want to think that of the two versions one if unstable beta and the other one is obsolete (well there is also the fork for the new Intel x86 -thing). Maybe i'm just oldfashioned, but typically software has a stable release plus possibly multiple development branches.

Does anyone have a clue when the 1.5.x might possibly acquire stable state? I know Arduino is expanding and growing, and that's awesome The 1.0.x -serie has been getting updates as well, but at some point i would assume it would be a good idea to start thinking of the 1.5.x as the recommended one, what do you think?

Version 1.5.X has important changes to the way different boards and libraries are handled, especially 3rd party libraries and boards.

1.5.0 introduced the new "platform.txt" and other chips. 1.5.2 released an early version of the library and boards scheme, and it was revised again in 1.5.3/1.5.4.

Recently these new features have been hotly debated, with considering input/concern/push-back from 3rd party develops (full disclosure, including me). It's still being discussed even now on the developers list:

Only yesterday (Nov 2, 2013) Cristian published a new goals/requirements list for these new features. Based on Cristian's message, it seems extremely likely this new scheme is likely to change again in 1.5.5 or 1.5.6.

I'm happy to say the new goals/requirements list has more emphasis on backwards and forwards compatibility between 1.0.X and 1.5.X. Long term, I believe these changes will greatly benefit all Arduino users.

So while 1.5.X works very well (it's "stable" in that it doesn't crash or work improperly), many pretty important aspects of the design are still likely to change. In terms of the APIs used by boards and libraries, things are still developing. I believe the Arduino Team is actually making a pretty good balance between making the new stuff available versus providing a stable platform that works with a huge number of boards, libraries, and sketches found across the playground and thousands of websites.

So while 1.5.X works very well (it's "stable" in that it doesn't crash or work improperly), many pretty important aspects of the design are still likely to change. In terms of the APIs used by boards and libraries, things are still developing. I believe the Arduino Team is actually making a pretty good balance between making the new stuff available versus providing a stable platform that works with a huge number of boards, libraries, and sketches found across the playground and thousands of websites.

I know the younger internet generation of whippersnapper devleopers like to pushthe envelop of their releases in an attempt to speed things up,but in true s/w release cycle terminology,since 1.5.x features are still being added and are morphing around, features are not frozen.Therefore, no matter how "stable" a given 1.5.x release may be,feature sets between 1.5.x releases are still changing, andtherefore it is still in an "alpha" release state according to traditional s/w release nomenclature.

Thanks both of you Paul and bperrybap for clearing this up, I appreciate it! I will browse the develper list to update myself on the situation and what the prospects looking like. I will also wait patiently, am I adamant the specs will be awesome